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Welcome to the Ballroom
Episode 21

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 21 of
Welcome to the Ballroom ?
Community score: 3.7

And the winner of this week's Character I'd Like to Smack Award goes to Hyodo! I'm a little torn on whether he was actually trying to help Tatara last week when he loosened up all of his joints and muscles, but the fact that he tells Shizuku it was an “experiment” has me more on the doubting side. If he didn't know for certain that it was going to help and had even the least suspicion that it could hurt Tatara's dancing, he really should have kept his hands to himself. It's very much in keeping with Hyodo's character and symptomatic of the issues many male characters have in this series, ever since Sengoku shoved Tatara out onto the floor during a competition. Hyodo has truly jeopardized Tatara and Chinatsu's chances.

However, it did lead to them finally making a breakthrough in their dancing, as well as the show finally coming up with a metaphor that works better than the whole “break the horse” thing. Akira comments that she and Chinatsu learned about a lead metaphorically “opening the door” for his partner, creating a path for her to follow. That's what Tatara has been failing to do for Chinatsu and part of the reason they've been having trouble syncing up; the other part has been her failure to see that she needs to work with rather than against him. Essentially, they've both been standing on opposite sides of the same door trying to open it, one pushing and one pulling. When Chinatsu realizes that they're in trouble this week, she finally understands that they both need to be on the same side, working together.

While I'm thrilled that they've made this breakthrough (possibly too late to place, but they are shounen protagonists, so maybe not), it does feel like it's taken the series too long to reach this moment of understanding. There are only a few weeks left in the show's run, so while the stage is set for the tempestuous twosome to have their epiphany and the series to end with the hope of them moving on, that might not be enough to make up for Chinatsu's behavior or the blatant misunderstandings that have plagued the series thus far.

Meanwhile, the rest of the episode is not focused on the dancing or even on Tatara. There's a lot of explaining going on, mostly about dance theory, although there's also some commentary on dancing that we're not seeing. I would have liked more of this discussion to look at the differences between the Viennese waltz and what they've been doing up until this point, because it's really more involved than the show is letting on, and I do find it hard to believe that Tatara and Chinatsu would be able to pull off this much more spin-heavy variant without having practiced more than has been implied. (Spotting, the head movement required to keep from getting dizzy, is a lot more complicated to learn than many people think.) Credit where it's due, however – I can really feel how exhausted and overwhelmed Kugimiya is getting as the dancing continues. It's been a long time since he danced this much under so much pressure, and it's clearly getting to him; even before Tatara and Chinatsu break his concentration, it's obvious that he's on the verge of collapse. The tension is best seen in his body language and in his face – just one of several good uses of facial expression in this episode, which of course includes Chinatsu's amazing demon impressions and Shizuku's stark disbelief at her partner.

I am growing more and more annoyed with Chinatsu's fussy hairdo as each episode passes. It is significantly more built up than most of her fellow competitors, and while I once dumped an entire container of glitter on my (curly waist-length) hair for a show, so I don't have much of a leg to stand on, Chinatsu's style is still starting to feel overdone. (At least she won't be brushing glitter out of her hair for six months.) Also, is it just me, or is her dress showing more and more of one breast? It doesn't matter from a decency perspective, because the fabric under the roses is hardly sheer, but it seems like a glaring inconsistency in the art.

It remains to be seen how well Tatara and Chinatsu can pull off the final dance next week. The preview of Kugimiya bent over the toilet may not bode well for him, but that could be a flashback, so it's not good to get our hopes up.

Rating: B-

Welcome to the Ballroom is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.


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